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Abstract

A lot of literature show that social isolation stress could be a key reason that leads to cognitive deficits for both humans and rodent models; however, the detailed mechanisms are still not clear completely. ADAR1 (Adenosine deaminase acting on RNA) is an enzyme involved in RNA editing that has a close relation to cognitive function. We hypothesize that social isolation stress may impact the expression of ADAR1, leading to cognitive deficits. To prove our hypothesis, we evaluated the cognition ability of the mice isolated for different durations (2, 4, and 8 weeks) using object recognition and object location tests; we also measured ADAR1 expressions in hippocampus and cortex using immunohistochemistry and western blot. Our study showed that social isolation stress significantly induced spatial and non-spatial cognition deficits. In addition, social isolation significantly increased both the immuno reactivity and protein expressions of ADAR1 in the hippocampus and frontal cortex. Furthermore, we found that adolescent re-socialization recovered not only the cognition deficits but also the increased ADAR1 protein expression in hippocampus and the increased number of ADAR1 positive cells in frontal cortex of the isolated mice. In conclusion, social isolation stress significantly increased ADAR1 expressions in the hippocampus and cortex, leading to cognitive deficits.

Shengming Yin conceived and designed the experiments, wrote the paper, reviewed drafts of the paper.

Animal Ethics

The following information was supplied relating to ethical approvals (i.e., approving body and any reference numbers):

The Tab of Animal Experimental Ethical Inspection - Number: L20140021

Data Deposition

The following information was supplied regarding data availability:

The raw data has been supplied as a Supplemental Dataset.

Funding

This work was supported by grants from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (31201724). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.

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